A week from now, tight end Kyle Rudolph will be immersed in the Vikings’ training camp practices. On Thursday and Friday, he was busy with the Kyle Rudolph Football ProCamp for boys and girls in the first through eighth grades. About 300 kids took part in the two-day camp at Eden Prairie High School.

“To have the opportunity to allow these kids to come out and run around and get away from sleeping in or playing video games is a lot of fun,” said Rudolph, who hopes the Vikings’ season will be fun, too.

Last year was certainly fun for him. Rudolph had a standout second season as Christian Ponder’s favorite red-zone target, going to the Pro Bowl after catching 53 passes, including a team-high nine touchdown receptions, for 493 yards.

BS: Was last year your breakout year or were you just scratching the surface?

KR: I think I was just scratching the surface. I’m not satisfied with last year, individually or as a team. I definitely expect more from myself this year.

BS: What is your expectation for this season?

KR: Production from our offense and winning football games. That’s the most important thing for me. And if that means catching more balls, I’ll do whatever I can to help us win.

BS: What can you do better?

KR: I spent some time with (Dallas Cowboys tight end) Jason Witten at the Pro Bowl. He congratulated me on a great first couple of years, but told me each and every year to continue to work your craft and fine-tune your game. You can always get better.

BS: There’s always something you can tweak?

KR: Exactly.

BS: With Adrian Peterson, the addition of Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson, and the improvement of Christian Ponder, do you have an offense that can be scary good?

KR: I really think so because you have so many weapons based around the best player in football. When you have Adrian in the backfield, it just makes everything else so much easier. Then you add the weapons on the outside, like Greg and Cordarrelle. Those guys are phenomenal talents. Greg has done a tremendous job mentoring our young wide receiver corps. He’s going to bring those guys along, so we’re going to have playmakers all over the field.

BS: Does your role as a receiver get diminished by having Jennings and Patterson?

KR: Not at all. The NFL, as a whole, is becoming more and more of a tight end-driven league. You look at the success of offenses in the NFL. They have a tight end who’s a go-to guy, whether it’s third down or in the red zone. There are situations where it’s just a tough matchup (for defenses) for our position. Those guys on the outside are just going to make it easier for me.

BS: Do you expect Peterson to get the rushing record after coming so close last season?

KR: I’d be surprised if he didn’t. That guy is just phenomenal. You learn after being around him a few years to never doubt him. Never think he can’t do anything.

BS: Fellow tight end John Carlson is coming off a tough, injury-impacted season. With you on one side and him on the other, can that create problems for a defense?

KR: We expect a lot out of John this year. He was banged up a little bit last year with a knee injury and was coming off a shoulder injury (that caused him to miss the 2011 season). He had the knee injury in training camp and had a concussion during the season. He never really got going. If we can get him going, that’s just another weapon to make our offense that much better.

BS: Where you are most dangerous, in the red zone?

KR: A big thing this year is that we just don’t limit it to the red zone. There are things we can do from the 20 to the 20 (yard lines). I feel we can use those same things that are so deadly in the red zone throughout the whole field, whether it’s third-and-short or third-and-medium.

BS: Have you been working with Christian Ponder a lot this offseason?

KR: Yes. Christian has been doing quite a bit of traveling, but when he’s around we make sure we get together and are on the same page.

BS: This is your third season. Is this the most excited you’ve been heading into training camp?

KR: I was pretty excited last year. My rookie year was kind of a down year and to go through it a second time I was excited. This year, we have a great team. I expect big things.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Sports

Ahmad Rashad has been there for many of Michael Jordan’s landmark moments. Now, it’s time for Jordan to return the favor. Rashad, the former Vikings wide receiver, became good friends with Jordan during the 1980s when Rashad was an NBC broadcaster and Jordan was starring with the Chicago Bulls. Rashad was the emcee for Jordan’s two Bulls retirement ceremonies in...

Four NCAA assistant basketball coaches were among those arrested on federal corruption charges Tuesday after they were caught taking thousands of dollars in bribes to steer NBA-destined college stars toward certain sports agents and financial advisers, authorities said.

CLEVELAND — Coming off a disappointing season at Triple-A Rochester, South Korean first baseman ByungHo Park has decided to remain in the Twin Cities for the bulk of this offseason in hopes of righting his major league career. “As I understand it, he is going to work out stateside for the offseason,” Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. “He’ll...

SAN DIEGO — Taj Gibson made a point to single out one player after the Timberwolves’ first practice of training camp Saturday — Shabazz Muhammad. “He kind of set the tone in my eyes of how hard he was playing and moving his feet, and that’s where we’re going to need,” Gibson said. “Every day you’re probably not going to...

When Conor Rhoda made his first collegiate start last season against Maryland, the Gophers quarterback hadn’t really been hit since his senior year at Cretin-Derham Hall in 2012. After being a backup and scout-team member, the Eagan native was looking to feel like a real football player again. Now with three more starts this season, Rhoda feels like he’s grown...